Chapter 101.1

Chapter 101.1

Rubbing her swollen, sticky eyes, Miran took a phone card from her bag sitting on the bench by the bed. Then she went back to André’s side of the room and sat on the edge of the mattress. A telephone rested on the nightstand beside the bed.

She planned to call Sungsoo and ask if she could move back into the dorm.

But before that…

Miran glanced at the clock.

It was 10:15 p.m. in Korea. Juran usually went to bed around eleven, so it wasn’t too late to call.

She couldn’t tell her everything that had happened, but just hearing Juran’s voice would probably calm her down.

She wound the coiled phone cord around her finger, waiting nervously. After five rings, there was a click as the line connected.

— Hello?

A husky voice came through the receiver. Miran froze.

“Yeongran unni?”

— Miran?

“What are you doing there, unni? What about the kids?”

Yeongran had settled in Chuncheon long ago after getting married. Between raising her two kids—one in elementary school, one in middle school—and working in insurance, she barely had time to come up to Yongin for their parents’ memorial, let alone visit during holidays when she had to be with her in-laws.

Yeongran let out a long sigh, the receiver crackling.

— Yeah… about that. Juran hasn’t told you yet, has she?

“What? Did something happen at home?”

A wave of unease washed over her.

Why would busy Yeongran leave the kids and go back home?

Then, faintly, she heard Juran’s voice in the background. Miran pressed the receiver close to her ear.

— Don’t you dare say anything unnecessary to the girl.

‘Something unnecessary?’

So they were whispering behind her back again, probably thinking she was still too young to be included. It wasn’t the first time her sisters had done this. Miran pressed her lips tightly together.

“Yeongran unni? Put Juran unni on the phone. I’m an adult now! If something’s going on at home, you can at least tell me!”

She complained, but Yeongran didn’t answer. It sounded like she had covered the receiver, because their muffled arguing came through the line.

Yeongran was warm-hearted and bold, but quick-tempered and blunt.

“Oh, come on, you two! How old are you, still fighting like that?”

Miran sighed but strained her ears, afraid to miss a word. They were both speaking so loudly that even through the covered receiver she could make out what they were saying.

— You really think Miran’s over there in New York just studying English and living easy?

— Kang Yeongran, lower your voice!

Miran blinked, confused. “Are they fighting… because of me?”

Then Yeongran suddenly shouted.

— Unni, you’re about to have surgery and go through treatment. How are you supposed to handle that alone? I can stop by with Geumran on weekends, but what about during the week?

— Who asked you to worry about that? And keep your voice down! What if the kids hear?

Miran’s heart dropped.

Surgery? Treatment?

Her face went pale as she screamed into the phone.

“Unni! Yeongran unni! Pick up the phone! Take your hand off it and talk to me!”

— …Hey, Miran.

Yeongran must have heard her panicked shouting, because she finally came back on the line.

“What do you mean? Juran unni’s having surgery? Why? Is she sick?”

As Miran fired off her questions, Yeongran answered as if she had been waiting for it.

― Juran unni has cancer. You need to—

Then came the sound of a struggle as Juran tried to snatch the phone from Yeongran.

― Give me the phone!

A moment later, Juran’s flustered voice came through.

― Miran, sweetie—

“Unni, is it true…?”

But Juran ignored her question and instead asked,

― What are you doing calling at this hour? Nothing’s wrong, is it?

“Me? You’re asking about me right now? Unni, do you really have cancer? Isn’t that… isn’t that deadly? Why didn’t you tell me? H-how could you…”

Terrified, Miran began to cry. How was she supposed to live without her sister?

No one around Miran had ever had cancer before. Her only knowledge of it came from TV, where people with cancer always suffered terribly before dying in the end.

― Oh, this is exactly why I didn’t tell you. Don’t cry, sweetie. Medicine’s better these days. People don’t all die from cancer anymore. They still need to do more tests, and if I have surgery and treatment, they said the cure rate’s high. So don’t worry about me, and just focus on studying your English.

Stunned, Miran shouted,

“…Are you serious? You’re having surgery for cancer, and you expect me to just study English?”

Then Juran snapped,

― Kang Miran, stop thinking nonsense and behave yourself. If you act recklessly, you’ll be in trouble!